Well-casing wrench



V. W. ZILEN AND B. E. FAIR.

WELL CASING WRENCH. APPLICATION FILED AUG-2, 1'920.

1,38%5 1 3, Patented June 7 1921.,

narrates at to.

VICTOR ZILEN AND RALPH E. FAIR, OF CHATTANOOGA, TENNESSEE, ASSIGNORS TO LUCEY MANUFACTURING CORPORATION, OF CHATT'ANOOGA, TENNESSEE, A.

CORPORATION OF TENNESSEE.

WELL-CASING WRENCH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 7, 1921.

Application filed August 2, 1920. Serial No. 400,819.

" citizen of Russia, and RALPH E. FAIR, a citizen of the United States, both residing at Chattanooga, in the county of Hamilton and State of Tennessee, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Well-Gas ing Wrenches; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description. of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification.

This invention relates to improvements in wrenches and more especially to that type of wrench adapted for screwing and unscrewing sections of well casing pipe or tubing. As is well known, wrenches for work of this character are necessarily of massive construction and are quite inconvenient to handle and manipulate, considerable time being consumed, for instance, in applying and locking the wrench in position on a pipe section to be connected to or'd'isconnected from another section.

One object of the present invention, therefore, is to provide a wrench that can be applied to' a pipe and locked thereon with a minimum loss of time. A. further object is to construct the wrench and its gripping jaws so that they will take a bearing on the pipe throughout a major portion of the circumference of the pipe. In this way, deformation of the pipe, so frequently caused by wrenches making a point contact with the pipe, is practically eliminated.

In the, accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a top plan view of a wrench embodying the present improvements;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation; and s Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 33 of Fig. 1. I

The wrench of the present invention has a A substantially circular head formed of two clamping or gripping aws 10, 11, pivoted to an operating lever or handle12. Asshown, the jawslO, 11 are pivoted at points spaced longitudinally of the lever 12 so-that movement of the lever in one direction will contract the jaws and cause them to grip a pipe or casing between them, while a movement in the opposite direction will expand the jaws and release the pipe. In order to prevent deformation of the pipe sections operated upon, the two jaws are formed with curved gripping surfaces 13 substantially conforming to the cross sectional contour of the pipe and when the jaws are contracted they engage the pipe throughout the greater portion of its circumference, the compression strains being evenly distributed over a largearea instead of being localized in one or two spots.

As wrenches of the, type to which this invention relates are quite cumbersome and the sections of pipe used for well casing are generally formed with collars at their ends,

' the present invention seeks to provide means whereby the clamping or gripping jaws of the wrench may beopened in order that the wrench may be readily applied to and re moved from the pipe sections without the necessity of elevating the wrench above the upper end of the pipe section which usually projects a considerable distance above the ground.

With this object in view one of the jaws 10 is formed of a plurality of sections, preferably two, pivotally connected together by a pivot pin 15 and the outer end section 14 may be swung open on. said pivot pin. The other clamping jaw 11 is pivoted to the operating lever 12, as before mentioned, and it can likewise be swung open on its pivot pin. When both jaw 11 and the outer section 14 of jaw 10 are opened on their pivot pins a pipe can easily be passed between them to a position where the jaws can again be closed.

To lock the jaws in their closed position, the free end of onejaw, preferably jaw 11, has a combined handle and locking latch of a bell crank form pivoted by a pin or pintle 16 in ears 17 on said jaw, the latch member of the combined latch and handle being formed with aT-head 18 adapted to interlock with a pair of spaced lugs or hooks 19 on the swinging end of the other jaw. When the parts are in closed position, as shown in In opening the jaws,

its pivot pin, a second handle 23 being formed on the outer section 1a of the other jaw to assist in opening that section.

The opening movement of the gripping jaws is limited by shoulders 24, 25 on jaw 11 and lever 12; shoulders 26, 27 on the two sections of jaw 10,.and shoulders 28, 29 on the jaw 10 and lever 12 and the last mentioned shoulders 28, 29 also serve to limit the lever movement when said lever is being moved around a pipe to expand the jaws.

In operation, the wrench is suspended in the space of the. derrick by a rope or other suitable s spens ion means secured in a clevis 30 p'ivote on the pivot pin of jaw 10 at one end of the lever, and a second rope or chain secured to the other end of the lever 12 through a hole 31,. is connected to a suitable source of power. When two sections of pipe are to be screwed together, the wrench assumies theposition shown in Fig. 1, and is given a partial, clockwise revolution by power applied to'the outer end of lever 12 through the rope secured in hole 31. This movement of the lever will cause the jaws to close upon and grip the pipe and impart a part revolution to thelatter after which-the I lever is returned in a counter clockwise dimotion to its initial position by power applied to the lever through a rope connected to a clevis 32 located intermediate the ends of the lever. This return movement of the lever is preferably accomplishedby hand, very little power being necessary as the jaws are expanded and the pipe released, due to the location of the pivotal connections be; tween the jaws 10, 11 and lever 12. These operations are successively repeated untilthe two sections of pipe are securely connected together. "To disconnect two sections, the wrench is turned over and the motive power utilized for imparting the counter clockwise movement of the lever, as will be readily understood. The powerful grip taken by the jaws on the pipe is due to the locationof the pivotal connections between the jaws and lever, the relative positions of these pivotal points giving the requisite le ver ratio for gripping the pipe. The tighter the pipe is to be screwed in, or the tighter 1. In a pipe wrench, the combination of an operating lever, a pair of gripping jaws pivotally connected to the operating lever, one of said jaws being formed of plvotally connected sections and having a handle formed thereon, and means for locking said jaws in closed position, said locking means comprising a catch formed on one jaw, a" pivot pin carried by the other jaw, a latch pivotally mounted on said pin, and adapted to engage said catch, and a spring surrounding said pin and engaging the latch for yieldingly maintaining said latch in engage ment with the catch and aihandle formed on said latch. I

2. In a wrench, the combination of an operating lever, a pair of jaws pivotally connected to the lever, a catch formed adj acent the free end of one jaw, a handle formed on said jaw, a pair of ears formed adjacent the free end of the other jaw, a pivot pin carried in said ears, a latch pivoted on said pin, a spring secured within the latch and engaging the latch to yieldingly maintain the latch and catch in locked or removal of a pipe, a latch-catch on said pivoted end section, a latch carried by said pivoted jaw adapted to engage said catch, a handle on the pivoted end section, and a handle on said pivoted jaw connected to said latch.

VICTOR W. ZILEN. RALPH E. FAIR. 

